The perceptions of school belonging, identification, and membership in urban students who attend a suburban Connecticut high school

The Open Choice Program in Hartford, Connecticut resulted from a ruling by the Connecticut Supreme Court in the 1996 Sheff v. O\u27Neill case, where school desegregation measures were required to reduce the economic, social, and racial isolation of the students in the Hartford Public Schools. This study explores the perceptions of school belonging, identification, and membership of Open Choice students who have chosen to attend a Connecticut public high school in one of the twenty-nine suburbs that surround the city of Hartford. This study examines students\u27 perceptions of school belonging, identification, and membership by considering the influences of specific school conditions, of teachers\u27 expectations and classroom practices, of peer associations and interactions, and of the leadership practices and behaviors of school and district leaders. Through group and individual interviews with school and district leaders, teachers, peers, and students who participate in the Open Choice Program, as well as student shadowing, review of student files and relevant district documents, and student journals, data will be collected on specific aspects of school conditions, teachers\u27 and school leaders\u27 practices, and peer interactions. Data will be analyzed to explain the influences of these particular elements upon the secondary school experiences of students who participate in the Open Choice Program in one Hartford suburb